Garment-stretcher.



N0. 698,887. Patented Apr. 29, I902.

C. A. M. ANDERSON. GARMENT STRETCHER. (Application filed Aug. 28, 1901.)

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UNITED STATES CHARLES ARTHUR MASON ANDERSON, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

GARMENT-STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 698,887, dated April29, 1902.

Application filed August 28, 1901. Serial No. 73,520. (No model.)

To all whom it ntay concern} Be it known that I, CHARLES ARTHUR MA- SONANDERSON, a subject of the King of Great Britain,.and a resident ofLondon, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTrousers Stretchers and Presses, of which the following is aspecification. i

The object of my invention is to provide a trousers stretcher and press;and the essential feature is to so arrange the device that when thetrousers are in position on the stretcher they may be rolled together toform a neat compact mass readily handled or stored for travelingpurposes and which will not only prevent creasing while so packed, butwill materially assist in keeping the garments in proper condition, sothat noprcssing will be required when it'is' necessary to wear them.

The invention consists of a series of-thin steel strips approximatelythe length of the trousers, which strips are covered with a fabriccasing of any suitable materialand held together at their ends bycross-bars,saidcrossbars having means thereon for holding the oppositeends of the trousers by flexible bands or otherwise, and when so securedthe metal strips containing the trousers arerolled up, so that thetension caused by the convolutions will stretch the legs of the trousersevenly and at the same time keep them in position and prevent unduestretching at any point, as will now be set forth in detail.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 is a plan view of the improvedtrousers stretcher and press in position to receive the garment;

, Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross-section of the metal strips and coveringalong line 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view of the stretcher with a pair oftrousers attached, and Fig. 4 represents a side View showing the mannerin which the stretcher is rolled up.

In constructing my invention I provide a number of thin metal strips 7,which are preferably made wider at one end than at the other, and theseare covered with canvas, buckram, or any other suitable fabric 8, thefabric being stretched between the strips, as shown at 9, so as to forma unity between the separated strips. The ends of these strips areunited at their narrow end by a cross-bar 10, either by rivets orotherwise,

strip is attached one end of a strap 11, which inafter shown. Apair ofstray flexible bands 12 extend across the bar 10 from end to end, andunder these bands the lower ends of the trousers are placed and held byfrictional contact.

The broad end of the structure hascrossbar 13, to which the ends of themetal strips are likewise secured either by rivets or in any othersuitable manner, and on this bar is another rigid piece 14 adapted to beheld against the main crossbar by screws 15 or otherwise, and betweenthese bars 13 and 14: the upper end of the trousers are placed andclamped. It will be obvious that the trousers can stretcher in themanner stated, so that it requires no particular skill to use theappliance or adjust the garments in position, which is an importantfeature in articles of this class. After the garment has thus beenapplied to the stretcher the waist of the trousers is carefully rolledbehind the cross-bar 13 and the flexible strips containing the trousersare rolled together with the trousers outside, as shown in Fig. 4, andwhen a complete roll has been formed the strap 11 binds the wholetogether. It is obvious that as the trousers are thus rolled up thetendency of the lower ends will be to creep upwardly, thus exerting atension which will have a tendency to stretch the trousers,- depending,of course, on the 'force exerted by the flexible bands 12, and thestretch on the leg of the trousers is evenly or equally distributed overthe entire width and the entire strain does not come on the seam.

More than one pair can be stretched and rolled at the same time, sothatit forms a simple, cheap, and convenient manner of stretching andtransporting trousers and assures the user that they will always be inperfect condition whenrequired.

I do not confine myself to the use of elastics for holding the lowerends of the trousers nor to the particular manner of securing the upperends of the garment to the presser, as it is obvious various means maybe deis used for binding the roll, as will be herereadily be smoothedout and applied to the and to this cross-bar or to the central metalstretcher being adapted to roll up with the contained trousers andbebound, as setforth.

3. A trousers-stretcher, comprising a plurality of flexible strips, a;cross-barat one end having thereon flexible bands extending 15 acrosssaid strips, the other end having a r similar cross-bar and a parallelbinding-bar thereon, and a strap at one end of the stretcher forsecuring the roll as set forth.

Signed at London, England,this 16th day 20 of August, A. DQIQOl. Y

CHARLES ARTHUR MASON ANDERSON.

Witnesses:

H. D. JAMEsoN,

A. NUTTING.

